


Dazzled

by AMidnightDreary, Rabentochter



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Tony Stark, First Meetings, Fluff, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-22 19:24:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19979260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/pseuds/Rabentochter
Summary: Loki's eyes were fixed on the place where the bridge would open any passing second.Apparently, not being on time was something he and his fiancé had in common.





	Dazzled

**Author's Note:**

> We're very good at (spontaneous) collabs. This took us exactly 24 hours to finish. xD
> 
> Art by **Rabentochter** , fic by **AMidnightDreary**. We hope you like it!❤

Loki was still drying his hair when he stepped out of the bathroom, glancing at the clock to make sure that he still had enough time. He _was_ running a little late, but given that he didn't actually want to be on time, that hardly mattered.

The clothes he had to wear were already laid out for him in his dressing room, and he looked at them with a sigh and narrowed eyes. They were lovely clothes and he would doubtlessly look acceptable in them, but there were certain details about them that made him feel slightly nauseous. The patterns woven into the deep green fabric, the high collar, the delicate golden belt… This wasn't armour, not even usual Asgardian formal clothes. 

It was _bridal_ wear.

Not actually, of course - even Odin wasn't cruel enough to make Loki wear an actual bride's dress. But the symbols were obvious enough, and whether he wore pants or a skirt wouldn't matter in the end. For a brief moment, Loki contemplated changing said pants into a skirt - _he_ didn't have anything against wearing dresses; in fact, he thought he looked quite good in them - but the Aesir already had enough reasons to laugh at their second prince as it was, he didn't need to give them another one.

Loki swallowed and tossed the towel aside, then got dressed. He hadn't asked for these clothes. Well, he hadn't asked for any of this, of course, and he didn't have a single choice, not even when it came to deciding what he would wear. 

He did look good in these clothes, so he thought with no small amount of bitterness when he looked into the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair and wondered what to do with it, then decided to leave it mostly as it was, just with a few braids to keep some wayward strands out of his eyes. He weaved a bit of jade and obsidian into them, mainly out of spite. And because the jade matched his eyes.

Another glance at the clock; he really was late by now. He had chased every maid away right after he'd woken up - he hadn't wanted any help getting ready -, so at least there was nobody bothering him right now. But he was sure that it wouldn't take long until his mother would send someone to get him, and while a part of him wanted to make them wait as long as possible, the _bigger_ part of him just wanted to get this over with.

He didn't bother making his way to the Bifrost by feet; he teleported right away. It earned him a few startled gasps - small pleasures on an otherwise entirely unpleasant day - and a reprimanding look from his mother. He gave her a charming and very fake smile and took his place in the first row of this little welcoming committee.

As it was, the only ones in the golden hall of the Bifrost were Loki himself, Frigga and two of her maidens, a handful of other important people Loki did not care about in the slightest, and Heimdall. Odin and Thor weren't there, which was a relief as much as it was insulting.

"They will bid him welcome at the feast tonight," Frigga whispered to Loki, as if she'd read his thoughts. "I thought you might like some privacy first, to -"

"Yes," Loki interrupted curtly. "Thank you, mother."

Frigga gave him a look that was most likely hurt, but since Loki held the opinion that _she_ had no reason to be hurt, he ignored her. His eyes were fixed on the place where the bridge would open any passing second.

Apparently, not being on time was something he and his fiancé had in common.

Several minutes passed, but then Heimdall finally perked up and took hold of his sword. Everyone in the room hold there breath, and a second later the bridge opened, colours flaring brightly enough that Loki could almost _hear_ them - and there he was.

"Huh," was the first thing Anthony Edward Stark said after arriving in the Realm Eternal. 

Loki had hoped for something a little less bland, if he was honest.

Anthony had come alone, which was rather odd. Every other prince Loki knew would have brought at least a handful of people with them. Anthony set the rather small suitcase he had brought on the floor while his other hand flew up to his eyes to lift the coloured glasses he was wearing. Attentive brown eyes came into sight, above them a raised brow, beneath them a crooked smirk. The eyes scanned the room and inevitably caught on Loki, who was staring right back at him with what he knew (hoped) was an unimpressed look on his face.

"Ah," Anthony said. "Hello there. I'd pay you a compliment, but I'm a bit dazzled by all this gold in here. A bit tacky, isn't it?"

 _Oh_ , Loki thought. _Not bland at all, then._

Next to him, Frigga cleared his throat. Loki gave in and approached Anthony, who watched him come closer without a single hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Oh, he was wary, Loki could tell, but he wasn't _scared_. He might actually be a bit angry, Loki thought as he came to stand in front of Anthony.

The human was short, but that was pretty much the only negative thing Loki could say about his fiancé's appearance. He had clever eyes and a sharp smile, and somehow, Loki found himself smiling back.

"Anthony Edward Stark," he said with a small bow, following the protocol. "I am Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard, and as your betrothed it is my pleasure to welcome you in what I hope you will soon see as your home."

"Oh," Anthony said, folding his glasses and sliding them into the pocket of his jacket. He looked Loki up and down, his smile turning positively lewd in the split of a second. " _Hello_ there."

Loki couldn't help but grin. "Not anymore dazzled, I take it?"

"Oh, definitely still dazzled," Anthony said and made a step toward Loki to take his hands and lift it to his lips. "Just not by the gold."

Loki raised a brow. That had been a bit cheap, but Anthony's wink told him that the human was well aware of that. "A charmer, aren't you?"

"Darling, I _invented_ charm."

Before Loki could say anything to that, Frigga joined them and greeted Anthony, who treated her with the sort of respect that reeked a bit of mockery. Had the circumstances been different, Loki would have been angry at the human for that, but as it was… Frigga hadn't taken a stand for Loki in the last weeks, not one single time, and he hadn't yet forgiven her.

It took a while until the protocol was done with, then they left the golden hall and made their way over the Bifrost. Horses waited for them in the middle or the bridge, but at first Loki and Anthony walked side by side, the others staying a bit behind them.

"Okay," Anthony said as once as they were outside. "I have like, a million questions about how this bridge and this place and this _everything_ works, but that can wait."

Loki blinked at him. "You're interested?"

"Of course I'm interested," Anthony said with a smile Loki could only describe as cunning. "But as I said, that can wait. For now I'd like to know if -" He glanced over his shoulder to where the others walked in polite distance, When Anthony looked back at Loki, his smile had become even sharper. "I mean, you're just as pissed about this as I am, right?"

"Oh, yes," Loki assured him. He gave the other man a once over, finding that he very much appreciated the clothes Anthony was wearing, then met those brown eyes again. "But at least you are not as dull as I thought you would be. The first human in the Realm Eternal, and the first thing you say is an insult."

"Oh, and that's good?"

"Yes, very much so," Loki said, then glanced around the bridge. "I've always thought the gold is a bit too much. You are the first to agree with me." 

"That makes me think that all the other Aesir are idiots."

"A second insult. I'm impressed."

Anthony laughed. It was a nice laugh. "I'm glad. Impressing you was one of the goals I had in mind, coming here."

Loki smiled. "And your other goals?"

"Well, let's see. Finding out a lot of magical secrets, for one thing. Then, annoying as many people as possible." Anthony paused, then shrugged. "That's about it."

"Well, I can certainly help with that," Loki said. "I played with the thought to cause some mischief at the feast later, anyway."

"Like what, for example?"

"Oh, I'm not sure yet." Loki flashed Anthony a grin. "My father is very proud of his beard. I thought about turning it into sausages."

"Loki," Anthony said, tucking his arm into Loki's. "You're not as dull as I thought you would be, either. Maybe this _will_ be fun in the end."

He changed his mind about fifteen minutes later.

"You know what," he said, "I changed my mind. This isn't fun. I'm not having fun. This is not fun and I would rather walk."

"Hush," Loki told him as he came to sit behind the human. "The ride is not long, you will survive."

"I won't," Anthony said, holding on to the saddle for dear life. "Your horse doesn't like me. It'll throw me right off this tacky bridge."

"My horse is a _she_ , not an _it_ , and she will not throw you off anything. Now stop fretting." Loki reached past Anthony and took hold of the ribbons. "What prince cannot ride, anyway?"

"But I'm not actually a _prince_ ," Anthony hissed. "And I didn't take riding lessons at boarding school."

Loki stared at the back of his fiancé's head. "What do you mean, you are not actually a prince?"

"Er, well," Anthony said, tone dripping with sarcasm. "I mean that I'm not _actually_ a _prince._ Just the closest thing Earth has to offer, apparently - which doesn't make any sense because we _do_ have actual princes, but I guess my family's powerful enough without being actual royalty."

 _Oh_ , Loki thought again, but this time there was not the slightest hint of pleased surprise in it. 

It made sense, of course. Anthony probably hadn't been Odin's first choice, but he was certainly a good one to make sure that Midgard would stay in line. Also he was male, which served Odin's other purposes. Loki felt the by now months-old anger rush through his veins again, but he could hardly do anything about it at the moment. He just held tightly on to the ribbons and trusted his horse to bring them safely over the bridge while he tried to keep himself under control.

"Loki?" Anthony asked after a few moments of strained silence. "Hey. Didn't you know that?"

Loki swallowed. "No, I did not."

"Oh. I thought - _why_ didn't you? Do you know anything at all about me?"

"Not much, no," Loki admitted. "It wasn't my place to ask."

"But you're basically marrying beneath yourself here. Like, a lot."

"I think that was rather the point."

Anthony tried to look over his shoulder but nearly lost his balance in the process, so he turned forward again immediately. "Explain," he said, sounding truly _serious_ for the very first time.

Loki let out a sigh. He didn't want to talk about this, really, but Anthony would find out sooner or later, anyway, so maybe it was better if he heard it from Loki himself.

"A few months ago," he began quietly, "I was caught in a rather… compromising position. I nearly lost my status as a prince altogether, but in the end the Allfather decided that he would still like to make use of me. So he decided to, well. Arrange this."

Anthony was quiet for a moment, then asked, "A compromising position?"

"Yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

Loki swallowed. "You are aware that we are both male, yes?"

"Duh."

"It is not usual for two men to marry, here in Asgard. Actually, this is the first time. Be prepared for some… harsh looks and words. I apologize in advance."

Anthony needed only a few seconds to catch on. "Oh," he said then. "Oh, shit. That's - fucking hell. So your dad marries you off just because you, what? Just because you're gay?"

Loki cleared his throat. "So to say, yes. It's the only use he still has of me. The Aesir have lost any respect they have ever had for me."

"That's _bullshit!_ " Anthony snapped. Somewhere behind them, someone made an affronted noise, but Anthony ignored that entirely. "It's _bullshit_ , Loki, okay? What the hell is wrong with Asgard? Hey. Hey, do you know what we're gonna do? We'll annoy a lot of people. We can make out at the feast or something and prank the hell out of them all, and then - we don't even _have_ to marry, we can just get out of here. You can come to Earth, I have more than enough place. _God._ "

He kept on ranting for a while. Loki listened and, eventually, smiled.

Loki woke up because _someone_ kept nudging his side, even though that someone knew perfectly well that he was ticklish. Loki made a reluctant sound and buried his face deeper into the pillows.

"Hey," a voice whispered to him, laughing quietly. "Sweetheart, I know you're awake. What day is it?" Loki didn't reply, and after a moment there was an insistent tug at his hair. " _Hey_."

Loki let out a world-weary groan and turned his head, peering at Anthony through still bleary eyes. "I have the most annoying husband in history of annoying husbands," he announced, and Anthony laughed.

"What day is it?" He asked again.

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Saturday?"

"No. I mean, yes, but -"

Loki cut him off by wrapping an arm around Anthony's middle and pulling him close. "I _know_ what day it is, Anthony," he muttered as he began nuzzling Anthony's neck. "And I think we are allowed to lie in today, aren't we?"

"If by 'lie in' you mean 'have sex', then yes, we are."

Loki muffled his chuckle against Anthony's skin. "You are insatiable."

"What can I say?" Anthony's hand came up to play with Loki's hair. "Even after five years I'm still dazzled."

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, and don't hesitate to go over to [tumblr](https://rabentochter.tumblr.com/post/186544738859/amidnightdreary-is-an-amazing-person-to-do) and give Sesil's amazing art some love.💕


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